Nick Saban addresses whether he’ll change signals against Jeremy Pruitt
By Keith Farner
Published:
Nick Saban was forced to do something this week that he hates to do: Change some of his routine.
On his radio show Thursday night, the Alabama coach said it’s a problem facing former assistants because he does have to change signals. Interesting, Saban also said he doesn’t steal signs, and if it’s suggested, he doesn’t like it because it “messes me up.”
Pruitt, of course, had a host of roles at Alabama across several years, including a staffer and assistant coach. Pruitt was a graduate assistant in 1997, as a director of player personnel from 2007-09, as a defensive backs coach from 2010-12 and most recently as a defensive coordinator from 2016-17.
Saban later in the show said Tennessee will be feeling good after beating Auburn, and he can see them feeling “like giant killers” after the win in Jordan-Hare Stadium last week.
Saban asked if Alabama has to change signals when facing a former assistant like Jeremy Pruitt: "That's a problem, but we do try to change them some. But you can disguise things and you can change things. Sometimes when you change things, who are you fooling?"
— Charlie Potter (@Charlie_Potter) October 19, 2018
Saban said Alabama never steals signals: "I don't even want to know. We used to have a guy in Cleveland who was a really bright guy … he always wanted to steal the other team's signals. I would always tell him 'I don't want to know. It messes me up.'"
— Charlie Potter (@Charlie_Potter) October 19, 2018
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
